Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam left the Olympic Village after her standout medal run at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan alongside fiancé Jake Paul, who carried her onto a private jet in a video shared Thursday on Instagram.
Leerdam captured gold in the women’s 1,000-meter speed skating event with a time of 1:12.31, setting a new Olympic record. She also earned silver in the 500-meter race, finishing behind fellow Dutch skater Femke Kok.
In the Instagram video posted February 20, Paul lifted Leerdam onto his shoulders as they boarded the aircraft. “From now on call me Jutta Leerdam’s fiancé,” Paul captioned the post.
Leerdam also confirmed her departure from the Olympic Village in a TikTok video Thursday, saying, “It has been a wild ride, and I’m leaving with gold and silver and a (Hermès) Birkin,” while showing off her designer bag.
She added, “I just feel so blessed with my amazing team around me. I decided two years ago not to sign with any big team, but create my own. And they did amazing and we really are a family now. My own family is just my support system. They’re my everything — even if I wouldn’t have gotten any medals they would have been there for me… and now I’m an Olympic champion.”
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Jake Paul attended the event at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, where he embraced his mother, Pam, and Leerdam’s mother, Monique, in the stands following Leerdam’s gold-medal finish. Leerdam became emotional after the race, with mascara running down her face as she cried on the ice.
Jutta Leerdam Fires Back At Critics Over Makeup At Winter Olympics
Following her Olympic victory, Jutta Leerdam addressed public scrutiny about her appearance in an Instagram post on Thursday, referencing past criticism of her makeup while competing.
“This moment proves you don’t have to become less of yourself to achieve something great,” Leerdam wrote, including a close-up photo of her crying. “That your looks don’t define you as a person or as an athlete. That if you work hard and stay determined, it will all come together.”
She added, “It’s so ironic because my winged eyeliner and make-up are something I’ve been judged for during my whole career, when all it ever did was give me confidence and make me feel feminine and powerful. The pressure I’ve felt, the judgment I’ve dealt with around so many things, the hard work I’ve been putting in for so many years all came together in this moment.”
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As already stated, Leerdam completed the Milan Games with one gold medal in the 1,000 meters and one silver medal in the 500 meters, marking her strongest Olympic showing to date.
